Albon to compete Australian GP in Sargeant’s car

Feature Image Credit: Williams Racing

Alexander Albon of Williams Racing is set to compete in the Australian Grand Prix as he takes over, teammate, Logan Sargeant’s car following his FP1 crash.

Williams have announced that Alexander Albon will continue to compete in the Australian Grand Prix race weekend having taken over Sargeant’s car for the rest of the weekend. 

In free practice one, Albon had a heavy crash at turn seven after his car was spat into the barrier when he rode too much kerb at turn six. The collision with the barrier resulted in rear suspension, tyre and chassis damage. 

As the team assessed the car, leaving Albon on the sidelines for FP2, and found the chassis was too damaged to use. This is now set to be transported back to the team’s headquarters in Grove for repair. 

Albon will now compete in Sargeant’s car for the remainder of the weekend. On the news, the competing driver said: 

“I have to be totally honest and say that no driver would want to give up his seat. I would never want anything like this to happen.Logan has always been a consummate professional and a team player from day one, and this won’t be an easy one for him to take. 

“At this point though, I cannot dwell on the situation and my only job now is to maximise our potential this weekend and work with the whole team to make sure we do the best job possible.”

The reason for this drastic measure is because the team did not have a spare chassis with them in Melbourne to replace the damaged one. This resulted in the broken chassis being withdrawn from the event, leaving Williams down to one car. 

Team boss, James Vowles has deemed the failure to bring a spare as ‘unacceptable in modern day Formula 1’ but points it as a reflection on ‘how behind’ they were over the winter.  Vowles said: 

“We are hugely disappointed that the damage sustained to the chassis has meant we need to withdraw it from the weekend.

“It’s unacceptable in modern day Formula 1 not to have a spare chassis, but it is a reflection of how behind we were in the winter period and an illustration of why we need to go through significant change in order to get ourselves in a better position for the future.

“As a result, we have had some very difficult decisions to make this afternoon. While Logan should not have to suffer from a mistake that he did not make, every race counts when the midfield is tighter than ever, so we have made the call based on our best potential to score points this weekend.”

Understandably, Sergeant – who completed both practice sessions without issue – is not happy with the decision stating it was ‘not easy’ to give up his seat. 

However, the young American has backed the team’s decision, he said:

“This is the hardest moment I can remember in my career and it’s absolutely not easy. I am however completely here for the team and will continue to contribute in any way that I can this weekend to maximise what we can do.”

That’s all for the article; Albon to compete Australian GP in Sargeant’s car!

Read more Formula 1 here:

• Australian GP: Leclerc fastest in undisrupted FP2 ahead of Verstappen
• Norris fastest in Australian GP FP1 as Albon crashes out
• Susie Wolff files ‘criminal complaint’ against the FIA
• Piastri excited for Melbourne return as Stella looks to keep momentum
• Verstappen secures Saudi Arabia GP win as Bearman takes points on debut
• Verstappen claims first Saudi Arabian GP pole position by 0.3s

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.